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2006
RC Driver
Indy Challenge
page 2
Vitor Meira
Felipe Giaffone
Townsend Bell
PJ Chesson
Ed Carpenter
Kosuke Matsuura
Bryan Herta
The third annual RC Driver Indy Challenge went off without a hitch. The weather was made to order, with the exception of the brief threat of a torrential downpour late in the day that never fully developed.
The big hit with the fans was the “try me” RC18s from Team Associated. When the 1/18 micro buggies and trucks came out, kids of all ages lined up around the track for their two minutes with the controllers.
When it was time to recharge batteries and make repairs to the “try me” vehicles, Thunder Tiger’s Richard Saxton and Ryan Maifield kept the spectators entertained with exciting expert nitro RC demos. The King’s truck backflips off the big ramp stunned everyone with each pass.
IT’S GOOD TO
BE THE KING
Richard Saxton ended the demos for the day with a two-wheeled stunt show that resembled X-Games more than RC. After thrilling the gathered fans with Thunder Tiger’s nitro Ducati motorcycle and an incredible tent-high leap off a double height ramp, the King walked over to one amazed fan and gave him the motorcycle and transmitter—not a bad little souvenir for the price of his Community Day admission!
It wasn’t just the attending race fans that had a fun and memorable day; the crews from event sponsors Thunder Tiger and Team Associated were obviously enjoying themselves as they demonstrated their products.
After all, this is what they do, because this is what they love. The RC Driver staff members on hand did their part to keep things exciting for the crowd. Bob Hastings with a microphone is more than enough to keep people’s attention. Bob lying on the ground while a 10-pound nitro truck jumps over his face ranks right up there, too. David Baker and Siri Wheeler created a fan frenzy when they hurled event T-shirts into the crowd – several signed by Saxton and Maifield and a couple signed by Bob and David to lower the street value. It was a long day to say the least, but definitely one for the history books. It’s safe to say that more than few new RC enthusiasts were born that day.
Maybe even a couple of new Indy fans as well from the RCD Indy Challenge camp. The months of preparation paid off. Now it’s time to focus on early August when we once again invade the Indianapolis Motor Speedway for the RC Challenge at the Brickyard. See you there!
PROFILE: ED CARPENTER Date of Birth: March 3, 1981 Birthplace: Indianapolis Residence: Speedway, IN.
Ed Carpenter’s friends in school wanted him to play sports instead of following his racing dreams; they’d often tease him at lunch by making engine noises. Nobody’s teasing Ed these days; instead they’re begging for tickets. Here’s a closer look at this year’s Radio Control Indy Challenge winner.
First Career IRL IndyCar Race: Delphi Indy 300 September 7, 2003.
After spending some time in the USAC series, Ed Carpenter joined Red Bull Cheever Racing in 2004. In his lone season with the team, Carpenter earned just one top-10 finish.
Following a move to Vision Racing in 2005, Carpenter remained consistently in the top 20 of the championship standings, finishing in 18th place overall.
In 2003, Carpenter made history at Chicagoland Speedway when he competed in the Infiniti Pro Series Chicagoland 100 and made his IRL IndyCar Series debut in the Delphi Indy 300. Ed is the first driver to compete in both Indy Racing League series on the same race weekend.
Carpenter ran three races with PDM Racing in 2003.
He finished third in the 2002 Infiniti Pro Series point standings with six top-five finishes in seven races.
In 2001, he competed in the USAC Sprint Car Series, earning his first series victory at the season finale in Salem, IN, finishing 12th overall and earning the Rookie of the Year title.
Carpenter competed in Silver Bullet competition in 2000. In 13 starts he finished in the Top 10 five times and was rookie of the race twice.
WHAT ABOUT THE DEFENDING CHAMP?
Sam Hornish Jr. put a hurt on his IRL competitors during the innaugural Indy RC Challenge in 2003 and looked forward to defending his honor again this year.
So where was the 26-year-old Team Penske driver? He was taking care of some additional commitments that cropped up after he captured the pole for the 90th running of the Indy 500. Although he missed the Challenge, Sam has agreed to join the RC Driver review crew for some vehicle tests whenever his schedule permits (a schedule that’s now stretched even thinner). We’ll be patient, though, especially because we now have the only RC editor that won the Indy 500! Congratulations, and welcome aboard, Sam.
The third annual RC Driver Indy Challenge went off without a hitch. The weather was made to order, with the exception of the brief threat of a torrential downpour late in the day that never fully developed. 
IT’S GOOD TO
BE THE KING
PROFILE: ED CARPENTER
In 2003, Carpenter made history at Chicagoland Speedway when he competed in the Infiniti Pro Series Chicagoland 100 and made his IRL IndyCar Series debut in the Delphi Indy 300. Ed is the first driver to compete in both Indy Racing League series on the same race weekend.
